“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“The paperwork that you didn’t know to keep, Mom. The paper that Dad says you need.”
“Eavesdropping is a bad habit,” she tried to scold. She just sounded desperate.
Dare snorted as he came into the room.
“How about you, Dad? Wanna tell me about the paper? Wanna tell me why you think killing Piper is a good plan?”
Both of his parents went stock still. He’d hit his mark. Then Wanda went for the Oscar again, she turned to Drake. “it was all your father’s idea. I love Piper.”
“Keep your mouth shut. He doesn’t know anything. He can’t prove anything.”
Her head swiveled between her husband and her son.
“I know plenty, Mom. I know that if you don’t fess up, you’re going to the women’s prison up to Nashville. Hell, you probably are anyway. You let dad in the house knowing he was going to kill Piper, that makes you an accessory to attempted murder. Come to think of it, you’re an accessory twice. Cause he tried to kill me too. I wonder how they’ll feel up at the prison that a mama tried to have her kids killed?”
Wanda shriveled up like a raisin in the sun right in front of him.
“He woulda killed me if I hadn’t done what he said.”
“That’s bullshit!” Quick as a snake, he backhanded his wife. She would have fallen out of the chair if Darius hadn’t caught her.
Drake was out of his chair like a shot and slapped his dad across the face, loving the look of shock on the old man’s face. He turned to his mother and saw her pressing her hand against her cut lip. She stared at Norville who straightened up in his chair. He pointed at Wanda.
“Your mama said the land was worth money. Then she left it to Piper and not you. You’ve been pissed ever since. This is all you, woman. I already had my own business that was going just fine. If it hadn’t been for Piper calling him, things would have been running smooth.”
Drake still didn’t quite understand everything. “I thought Granny Laughton’s land was worthless.”
“She told your mom that there was gas on the property. She’d had it surveyed. Then she willed it to Piper,” Norville explained. “If Piper dies, the property goes to your mom.”
Drake looked away from his parents, his eyes desperately colliding with Mason. He took solace. Then he stared back at the filth that sat in front of him.
“And the paper?” he asked coldly.
Norville shrugged.
“And the paper?” he demanded, his fist slamming into the table.
“It showed where the gas was. It was a mineral something or other,” Wanda whispered.
“Survey. It was a mineral survey, you dumb bitch,” Norville said.
“Where was it?” Drake asked, somewhat under control.
“It was in one of them there books of Piper’s,” Wanda explained.
“I couldn’t find them,” Norville said.
“Got it.” Drake sat back. He looked up at Darius and Mason. “Did you get all that?”
Darius pulled out his microphone. “I got it. This should do the trick.”
“You taped me?” Wanda screeched.
“We like to help the proper law enforcement when we can. As for you, Dad. Huey, Harmon, and Delmar have been talking to the DEA. They should have enough on you to escort you back to Pikeville. Maybe you guys can write love letters to one another between prisons.”
***
How in the fuck was he going to explain this to Piper?
Drake took a deep shuddering breath as he walked up to the Chalet.
Thank fuck it was past two in the morning since the DEA and the State police had taken so long to get there and process his parents.
“You going to be all right, Big Guy?” Darius asked.
“Sure,” Drake answered.
“Just need some shut eye.”
He walked into the mammoth house and went to the fireplace. He stirred the embers and thought about food. He was hungry, but he’d probably just throw up.
He needed to go talk to Trenda. They needed to have a united front with the younger girls. He needed to figure out how to spin this to Piper. He needed to get his head on straight. He needed to not be so hurt by this.
The air shifted. He looked out of the corner of his eye, and he was able to identify Karen coming down the stairs. When she came to stand beside him, he saw she was wearing purple sweats.
Her mouth turned down. “You’re frowning. I don’t think you like my attire. On the upside, it matches my toenails.” She swung out her foot. “See?”
“Dammit, you should be wearing socks,” he said without heat.
“It had to have been bad if you can’t even properly ball me out. Come upstairs.”